Work Text:
Technical Officer Katrin Zhao tended to separate her days in the Eusan People's Navy into two categories: good days, and bad days.
Today was shaping up to be a bad day.
"...to sum it up, we're looking at a recall of all the Penrose-spec Elster units for refitting."
"Like hell we are! You can't just replace the long-term optics like that!"
"Yes, this would be an involved refitting process, and that's why – as I already covered in the presentation – we're looking at a programme delay of about three months-"
"Not acceptable! Setting aside all the Gestalt officers waiting for crew integration training, this entire programme is centred around the first set of launches happening on the founding anniversary, which there is no way we can make with that kind of delay. How bad is this focusing issue, anyway?"
A tired-looking technician a few rows from the front spoke up. "The optics can't focus properly beyond about two metres. They lose basically all of the small detail at three."
"Well… they're not going to ever be that far away from anything, are they? These are small ships."
A different tired-looking technician murmured. "...Penrose vessels have hallways about four metres wide, with over ten metres between doors, multiple of which could be open in an emergency which would result in a total open distance of-"
"Did I ask you?!"
"...No sir."
Katrin thought about pointing out that ostensibly the Elster units would have to navigate the open terrain of a planet, but decided that wasn't going to win her any points. "We're not sending these missions out with defective Elster units." The commander in attendance began to interrupt, but she shut him down. "No, let me finish. The only thing worse than missing the scheduled launch date is half of the ships careening into asteroids before they've even left the solar system because the Replika misread a screen from a few metres away. Not to mention the effect this would have on crew and overall Navy morale; our information control is good but not perfect, and even if none of the units say anything themselves, the scout officer is going to notice during integration training if their Elster squints . We're doing the recall. End of story."
"You don't have the authority to make that decision, Technical Officer."
"I can obtain it."
"I don't think that would be wise."
Katrin buried her fear, put on her best poker face, and just stared in response.
A few seconds passed uncomfortably.
"Uhhh… I think we might have another option." the first technician said, shifting uncomfortably.
"Well, I'd love to hear it."
"We could use an external correction system."
"Like what, some sort of post-processing on the image-"
"I mean glasses. We could just give the Elster units corrective-lens glasses."
A few seconds passed, less uncomfortably.
"...it's a good idea."
"Yeah."
"Much cheaper, and since they all have exactly the same optics we can do a production run on the lenses…"
"...add something to the sides of the head unit? I don't think there's enough for the glasses to rest on…"
"We could laser engrave the vessel number on the side of the frames! That'd be great for morale and team cohesion!"
"Yeah, and we could do a colour scheme that matches the Replika frame and chestplate!"
"Alright, alright, quiet down everyone! This isn't a design meeting!" Katrin tried to halt the discussions springing up around the room, succeeding after a couple of attempts. "Can I have a feasibility report on my desk by this afternoon?" The technician who made the suggestion gave a nod.
"Now hold on a second." the commander said, stepping to the front of the room. "We've got to consider the optics of this."
"Yeah, that's what the meeting's ab-"
"QUIET!" The person at the back wilted and regretted pointing out the pun. "The Penrose program is the pride of the nation, and the Elster units aboard are a symbol of our prowess. We can't just have them wearing glasses."
"...is that an issue? Lots of members of the service wear glasses." Katrin made a point of adjusting the glasses on her nose.
"I am aware, Technical Officer, " he replied, drawing out the words, "but they're not going to appear on postcards. When all the crews line up for photo ops and the Elster units all have specs, it's going to be obvious someone messed up."
"That's for the information department to spin, not us."
"We're responsible for delivering the programme!"
"Yes, and given that we're in the situation we're in, I'm not hearing a lot of good alternative solutions for delivering the programme . Besides, there's a lot of angles they can take. Solidarity with everyone in the Navy who wears glasses or something, look, even the Replikas on Penrose have them. Replika vision enhancement equipment; I mean that one wouldn't be wrong, exactly…"
"...I still think we should look for alternatives. This can't be the only way out of the problem."
"And we will look for alternatives, Commander, but I'm not going to just discard this potentially workable solution." She turned to look at the room again. "If there's nothing else, then I'm calling this meeting over. You, I want that feasibility report this afternoon, take some people off of the rifle scope development team if you need extra hands. Dismissed!"
Two weeks later, LSTR-512 reported to the Eusan People's Navy 14th Scenario Simulation Centre for integration training. After downloading the facility maps, she quickly made her way to the blocks of the building set up as facsimiles of a Penrose ship interior.
Block E1… block E2… block E3… ah. There's E8, directly at the end.
She shifted her equipment bag, adjusted the glasses around her ears, and opened the door.
"Elster five one two, reporting in for crew integration training!"
"Oh, you're here! Uhhh… I'm Scout Officer Ariane Yeong!... At ease, soldier?"
Elster relaxed. Slightly.
"Oooh, they didn't show that Elsters had glasses in the briefing information!"
"Yes. They're a recent addition. They provide augmented optical performance."
"Sure!" Ariane walked up close to Elster, looking up at her with a smile. "You look so cute in them!"
"...Thank you for the compliment." Elster felt some oxidant rush to her cheeks.
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 2.
Elster walked down the hallway to check on the RCS propellant tank pressure again. After a successful launch, Penrose-512 was sitting in orbit along with dozens of its peers, waiting for its turn on the mass driver to send it beyond the solar system. Both the other vessels and the giant mass driver installation were close enough to be visible through the cockpit window, although Elster hadn't been there for a few hours: Ariane was at the controls, just watching and correcting any slight drift.
Left to her own devices, and barred by maintenance regulations from checking every gauge obsessively when not in an emergency situation, Elster had devised a thrilling game.
The nominal pressure is 20 bar, plus or minus 0.05 bar… it's been sitting between 20.01 and 20.03 bar… it's going to be 20.01 this time. I can feel it.
Elster looked at the readout. 20.02 bar. She sighed. Never bet against the average.
"Elster! Come and look, they're firing the next batch!" Ariane shouted through the open cockpit door. Elster walked briskly to the cockpit, sitting down in the copilot seat at Ariane's insistence.
In the distance, she could see a 'pod' of Penrose vessels manoeuvring their way over to the mass driver, RCS thrusters firing little white clouds into the void of space. One ship docked on the driver's launch rail, and after a couple of minutes, went shooting off – its distinguishing features faded, became a little pinprick of light, and gradually shrunk into nothing. The next ship lined up and began its docking procedure.
Elster stared at the procession, spaceships reflecting in her glasses. Ariane leaned over and put her arm around her, trying to go over her shoulder but settling around her waist.
"In a few hours… that's going to be us, isn't it?"
"Yes." Elster offered no further reply, but after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, put her arm around Ariane. She felt Ariane relax a bit.
They remained there for half an hour, watching the ships set off.
"...I should probably go and check on the readouts again."
"Elster, when was the last time you did a full check of the system readouts?"
"45 minutes ago."
"What's the maximum amount of time you can go between system readout checks in nominal operating conditions?"
"...90 minutes."
"Were any of the system readouts abnormal at any point since launch?"
"Well, no…"
"Would you be notified if there were any ship system alerts via your built-in diagnostics?"
Elster refreshed a mental note she made during integration training: do not test Ariane's knowledge of mission protocols. Especially when it stood in the way of physical contact.
"... I could stay a bit longer."
She did.
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 63.
After a few months worth of cycles, the two-strong crew of Penrose-512 had settled into something of a routine.
On the broad level, there was the pre-approved crew shift cycle. Elster stayed up as Ariane went to bed, checking the system readouts regularly but otherwise reading some of the thousands of books she'd loaded on the computer before departure. When Ariane woke up and got ready, Elster took her much shorter rest after Ariane did the radio check-in, leaving her to monitor the ship. Elster then woke up, and the two of them handled the running of the vessel together for several hours until Ariane went to bed again.
This overview missed several daily events.
Before Ariane went to bed, she and Elster would read a bit of a novel together, dividing up the characters and narration to tell the story in a variety of eccentric accents. When Ariane woke up, Elster would have a fresh pot of coffee ready for her at the handover (Eusan People's Navy Standardised Brew, containing both Replika and Gestalt-compatible stimulants), and Ariane did the same for Elster, allowing them to drink together and talk for awhile. When Ariane had time away from navigation, she'd try and make some progress on her current painting: Elster sat next to her, reading and occasionally glancing up to watch her work.
And there were countless other details – Ariane pulling Elster closer before she released her for bed, the little nudge Elster gave Ariane at handover time, Elster turning her eyes away from both her book and the painting and just watching Ariane for a few seconds, a minute, an hour…
During today's coffee break, the two of them were leaning their heads against each other, height difference somewhat mitigated by sitting down next to each other and Elster's dramatic lean.
"...Elster, you should take your glasses off."
"No."
"You'll bend the frame."
"Your cheeks are squishy. They'll cushion them perfectly."
"They could be cushioning youuuu…"
"Valiant attempt. But no."
"Alas! All my blood circulation is being cut off by these striking glasses digging into my cheek. I will surely perish, but it will not be in vain, for the wearer looks impossibly cute and it would be a far greater crime to remove them from her face. Farewell…" Ariane let her voice trail off with a melodramatic waver.
Elster sighed, set her glasses on the table, and leaned up against Ariane again. "Better?"
"Mhmm." Ariane snuggled up closer while the coffee cooled on the table.
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 678.
"...minor repair on the living quarters air filter required, Replika completed the repair successfully. No other issues to report. End transmission."
Elster sat next to Ariane while she completed the check-in broadcast. In this phase of the mission, the lightspeed comms delay made a real-time check-in impossible and there wasn't much need for it anyway. Ariane simply broadcast a report, and would receive a transmission awhile later acknowledging receipt, along with any further instructions. Eventually, her reports would be text-only, and finally the transmitter on the Penrose would run out of range, leaving one-way mission phase updates as the only form of communication they would receive. Ariane tried not to think too much about that.
Instead, she gave Elster a little peck on the cheek before going in for a before-Replika-bedtime hug. Elster responded, wrapping her arms around Ariane and sifting carefully through her hair. "You do need to go to bed eventually, Elster…"
"Elster unit specifications allow for extended operational periods when outstanding tasks are mission-critical." A couple of years of dealing with Ariane had made her an expert in weaponizing procedure.
"Aww, I'm 'mission critical'. The highest compliment I could possibly receive."
"I think I ran out of compliments a month ago. I could start repeating them if you'd like."
"Hmm. Give it another year and then we'll see."
A couple of minutes passed before Elster got up and headed to sleep.
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 1235.
So they're not here, they weren't over there… did I check behind this crate? I don't even know why I would've been there recently, so- yep, not there either. Urgh.
Elster was hunting for her misplaced glasses. She wasn't being successful.
Alright. Ariane will be awake in about 15 minutes. I should just do my rounds and prepare the coffee. Then I can ask her.
After doing her system checks, Elster made her way to the recreation/research area and flicked through the coffee sachets on the shelf, squinting a little bit at the labels. Once she found the Gestalt brew – they were starting to hold back on their supplies of the combined provisions – she dropped the packet in the machine, turned the intensity dial with the usual muscle memory, and pressed the button.
Several minutes later, Ariane walked briskly into the room. "Good morning!"
"Good morning to you, too." Elster smiled, and let Ariane pour herself a mug of coffee before continuing. "Just checking – have you seen my glasses anywhere?"
"Have I– smphhhff " Ariane barely avoided snorting coffee out of her nose. "Uh, yes! I have!"
"Great, can you tell me where they are?"
"...It'll be quicker to just fetch them for you, I think."
Ariane walked slowly up to Elster, reached above her head, and tapped her glasses down from her forehead back onto her face.
"...Ah. Oops."
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 2700.
"Good morning."
"...Good morning, Elster." Ariane walked deliberately over to the table with the coffee machine. She started to do a little stretch when she sat down, but stopped midway, flinching.
"...Is today a bad day?"
"Not the worst, but yeah, it's not great." Ariane reached behind her back to rub it a bit, but Elster stood up and took over. "Thanks."
"No problem. It's a multiple of one hundred today."
"Oh, so it is. Only the 27th one… doesn't feel so long when you put it that way."
"That's true." Elster stopped rubbing for a moment while Ariane picked up her mug and took a sip. "Did you make any progress with painting ideas?"
"Not really." Ariane set down the mug. Elster continued the back rub. "I know I should just try something and get started, but with the limited supply of paints I have left…"
"Yes. I understand."
The two of them sat in silence for awhile. Ariane didn't bother asking if Elster had found anything on the scanner while she was asleep.
"Alright. You should probably get to bed." Ariane reached up and ruffled through Elster's hair.
"Yeah. Remember, wake me up if you need anything."
"Of course."
Elster went to her quarters, trying to think positively about the situation.
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 2904.
Okay. This is fine. I've offloaded most of the system diagnostics to my local network anyway, and it's not like I can't walk up close to the monitors. It was just a mistake. No point beating myself up about it. It's okay.
…
okay but FUCK dammit arggHHHHHHH
Elster was looking at the broken remains of her glasses, lenses in pieces and the frame twisted. The price for a brief lapse in concentration while stacking crates.
"Elster! Are you okay?" Ariane had arrived after hearing the crash.
"Yes, but– some of the cartons are leaking– and my glasses–"
"Oh no! Can you repair th– ah. I see."
"Yeah. I don't think they're salvageable."
"...Alright, let's get this cleaned up first. I'll grab some cloths."
"Should I get them?"
"I can still pick up a towel!"
After Ariane got some cloth wipes, the two of them cleaned up the spilled liquid and re-organised the crates. Then Ariane went to pick up the glasses. "...I'm sorry."
"It's not remotely your fault. And it'll be fine, I don't need them for daily operations anymore. But– nevermind."
"But what?"
"...It just feels weird not wearing them, already. I want to just go back to my quarters and pick them up because I forgot them or something, but. Well. They're right there."
"And the top minds of the Eusan People's Navy didn't have the foresight to supply a spare pair?"
"You'd know better than me."
"Unfortunately no, I don't have a confidential, top-secret stash of LSTR Penrose glasses." Ariane sighed. "If it's alright with you, I could use the bits for paintings. I've had a couple of mixed-media ideas in my head for awhile and the broken glass would work pretty well, I think."
"Go for it."
Ariane left and came back with a dustpan and brush, sweeping the remains of the lenses into a plastic bag before dropping the frame in. "Alright then… I guess I should be at navigation, but if you need anything…"
"Yeah. I might just come and sit with you: I don't think I'm getting anything else done today."
Ariane smiled a bit. "Please."
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 2907.
Ariane's voice squawked over the internal speakers. "Elster! I've got something for you!"
"Okay, I'm coming over." Elster set her notepad down and walked from the reactor to the crew quarters. When she saw Ariane sitting on the bed, she did a double-take.
Those are… are those new glasses? No, repaired somehow???... ah, they don't have the lenses in them. Still…
"Heheh!" Ariane, wearing the un-twisted glasses frames, put on her best 'deep thought' pose. "Uh, we don't have any labcoats so just imagine I'm wearing one. For the bit."
"Okay, yep, wow. You look so intelligent. And scientific."
Ariane pushed the glasses up her nose. Without lenses they didn't reflect the lights, but the intent was clear. "Okay but seriously you can have them, if you want. I mean obviously they won't help your vision anymore, but. I thought you might just want them anyway…"
"Ariane. Thank you so much."
"...so do you want them or–"
"Yes! Please."
"Okay!"
"..."
"..."
"...Can I have them?"
"I'm reconsidering."
"...What."
"I think they made me smarter."
"You think they–? Okay, we can work out a schedule or something, we can share them, private property is…" Ariane started giggling. "...oh you were joking." Ariane's giggle intensified into a laugh. Elster joined in, and was handed the glasses frame a few seconds later.
Putting on the frames without lenses felt a bit weird, but the weight on her face was reassuring. Ariane looked at Elster, and blushed.
Ah right. Ulterior motive.
Elster went to sit on the bed next to Ariane, and cuddled up beside her.
But that's fine with me.
Operation Penrose, Penrose-512, cycle 3000.
Ariane slumped down on a chair in the comms room and looked at the slip of paper again.
The content wasn't particularly surprising. Although the briefing had been conspicuously missing information on what to do in case of a mission "failure", it wasn't hard to guess what the instructions would be. She'd had nearly a decade to think about it, after all.
Still, seeing it right there, written out.
That's it? That's fucking it???
She was tempted to open a high-priority channel and just radio obscenities in the general direction of naval command. But as tempting as that was…
I can't let Elster know about this. It would break her. I have to just…
She sighed, sitting up a bit. Her back twinged.
Ariane Yeong stood up, put the slip of paper in the shredder-incinerator, and walked to the quarters.
Perfect evening for a dance.